


A Matter of Resolve

by TaleasOldasTimeandSpace



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff, New Year's Resolutions, ShieldShock - Freeform, shieldshock secret santa fic exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 20:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9022413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace/pseuds/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace
Summary: Sometimes, true love needs a little nudge.Whether it wants it or not.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Livvy1800](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livvy1800/gifts).



> Happy Hanukkah, Livvy1800!

‘Come on, Cap’n Crunch!  I know you’re older than dirt, but you can’t tell me they didn’t have New Year’s resolutions back before you got put in deep freeze.’

‘Sure they had ’em.  But when I was a kid I was too busy trying not to get killed by my own body, and then I was trying not to get killed by Hydra, and, well, somehow making resolutions on top of that just seemed like too much work.’

Darcy paused in the doorway of the common room, debating whether she really wanted to brave the latest Tony/Steve throwdown.  But Jane had managed to reduce their coffeemaker into its constituent parts in the five minutes Darcy had left her alone to talk to Bruce, and the idea of facing Jane uncaffeinated was far worse than the prospect of getting dragged into one of their arguments.  Maybe if she kept her head down and moved fast, they’d never know she was there.  She could army crawl with a coffee pot, right?

Bucky snorted.  ‘You make it sound like you actually had a sense of self-preservation, instead of going out of your way to pick fights with guys that could break your scrawny neck twice a week.’

‘It wasn’t _twice_ a week,’ Steve muttered lamely, looking absurdly like a scolded puppy.  It was ridiculous how endearingly helpless the man looked sometimes, and— _No!  Bad Darcy!  Focus!_   She had more important things than cute supersoldiers to think about right now.  Like coffee.

‘Okay, what about you, Looming Thug #3?’ Tony demanded, jabbing a finger at Bucky.  ‘Did _you_ ever make resolutions?’

Bucky laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back with a smirk.  ‘Why should I?  I’m already perfect.’

The common room erupted in shouts and insults.  As Steve attempted to shove Bucky off the couch, Darcy flattened herself against the wall and started inching her way to the kitchenette.  _That’s it, just go about your business.  Nothing to see here._

They calmed down sooner than she would have liked.  Tony turned to Natasha.  ‘Shelob?  How about it?’

She glared at him.  ‘That was a strangely literate reference for you, Tony, but nevertheless, call me Shelob again and I will end you.  Slowly.  Painfully.  And,’ she leaned forward, a slow, sharklike grin spreading across her face, ‘you _really_ don’t want to know my resolutions.’

Tony swallowed hard.  ‘…Moving on.  Clint?  Sam?  Bird brothers?  Come on, help me out here.’

Sam rolled his eyes, while Clint shrugged.  ‘I dunno,’ he said.  ‘Eat more pizza?’

Tony sighed heavily, massaging his temples.  ‘Do you guys really not get this, or are you just trying to make my life difficult?’

‘What do you think?’ Sam asked dryly.  ‘Anyway, what about you?  Since it’s obviously such a big deal for you, you must have some resolutions of your own, right?’

‘Uh, well I, um, that is…Darcy!’ 

Darcy, whose fingers were just brushing the handle of the coffeepot, shrieked and jumped.  _Curses!  Foiled again!_   She turned slowly, pasting a patently false smile on her face.  ‘Oh, heeeey, guys!  Didn’t see you there.’

Steve barked a laugh and tried to cover it with an obviously fake coughing fit.  Subterfuge was not his strong suit, poor marshmallow.

Tony ignored him.  ‘Darcilicious!  Tell me you made New Year’s resolutions!  Don’t let me down, Starkling!’  Tony liked to pretend he was her older brother/dad/creepy uncle, based on an admittedly remarkable resemblance, both in looks and temperament.  It was a complete coincidence, however, and she had the DNA tests to prove it.

Darcy leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.  ‘Oh, sure.  I’ve resolved to stop getting kidnapped by Hydra every month,’ she deadpanned.  ‘I’m thinking if I move in with a towerful of superheroes, they’ll fight off the bad guys before said bad guys ever get to me.’  She liked to think she handled her frequent kidnappings with grace and aplomb, but they were annoying.  About the only good thing to come from it was the fact that Steve, in his full Captain America glory, was usually the one leading her rescue.  If she was really lucky, there was even some bridal-style carrying involved.

Though usually when that happened she was too doped up to properly appreciate it.  Stinkin’ Hydra.

She was extra salty about it at the moment, because Hydra had decided it would be a brilliant idea to kidnap her on Christmas Eve.  Sure, neo-Nazi organizations probably didn’t actually celebrate Christmas, but she did, dang it!  Grace and aplomb aside, the Christmas traditions of the Lewis household were _sacred_.  And yes, Steve and company had managed to get her home by Christmas afternoon, but it wasn’t the same.  Worse, Jane had some super-important space-thingy she absolutely had to track between Christmas and New Year’s, so Darcy wouldn’t be able to take extra time off until mid-January.  There wasn’t even any bridal-style carrying by Captain America involved to make up for it.

Stinkin’ Hydra.

Steve looked adorably guilty, and she had to resist the urge to rush over to him, pat his—very nice, very muscular—arm, and say, _of course, I didn’t mean_ you.

Clint frowned.  ‘I don’t think that’s how resolutions work.  And I thought you were already living in the tower.  Why would you need to move?  _Hey!’_ he yelped as Sam slapped him upside the head.

Darcy rolled her eyes.  ‘I have absolutely no idea.  Now if you’ll excuse me,’ she added, grabbing the pot and making a break for the door, ‘I have to get back to the lab before Jane punches a hole through time and space and brings Cybermen over from a parallel world.’

‘I understood that reference!’ Steve called after her, and she tossed him a wink and a two-fingered salute before ducking out the door.  She’d made it her personal mission to catch him up on important cultural developments, such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Doctor Who.  Turns out Captain America was actually a gigantic nerd—he’d just been born seventy years too soon, so no one realized.  Until now.

* * *

 

Steve was still gazing at the doorway after Darcy had disappeared, a dopey smile on his face.  It always amazed him how quickly she could bounce back from what for anyone else would be permanently scarring situations.  He knew the last kidnapping had been especially hard for her, yet there she was, managing cranky scientists and holding her own in the face of Tony’s teasing.  He sighed.  She was truly an amazing woman.

Tearing his attention back to the present, he turned to find Tony, Bucky, Sam, Clint, and Natasha all watching him with matching grins.  It was unnerving, especially since normally they couldn’t even agree on, well, anything.

‘What?’ he demanded.

Sam shook his head.  ‘You’ve got it bad, man.’

‘It’s adorable,’ Clint said.  ‘Pathetic, but adorable.’

Steve hunched his shoulders.  ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Sure you do,’ Bucky said cheerfully.  ‘Have you even tried talking to her?’

‘I talked to her just now!’

Natasha shook her head in mock disappointment.  ‘Have you talked to her about something other than Doctor Who?’  He opened his mouth, but she held up a finger.  ‘Outside of rescues?’  He shut it with a click.  She nodded smugly.  ‘That’s what I thought.’

‘You need help,’ Tony added.  ‘Serious help.  Fortunately, you’ve got us to provide it!’

Steve buried his head in his hands.  ‘Why don’t I find that comforting?’ he asked plaintively.

Bucky punched him in the arm.  With his metal hand. It gave Steve a bruise that lasted for a full ten seconds.  ‘Cheer up, punk.  You punched Hitler over two hundred times.  You can talk to a girl.’

‘But that was for the USO.  Besides, Darcy’s much cuter than Hitler.  Much scarier, too,’ he added thoughtfully.

Clint rolled his eyes.  ‘You think all girls are scarier than Hitler.’

Nat leaned over and flicked his ear.  ‘That’s ’cause we are.’

Tony clapped his hands.  ‘Focus people!  You two can flirt _after_ we straighten out Capcicle’s pitiful love life.’

‘Hey!’  Steve’s indignant squawk was drowned out by the shouts of assent from the rest of the Avengers.

‘Comments?  Suggestions?  Random insults?’  Tony spread his hands expectantly.

‘For Tony or Steve?’ Sam asked under his breath, making Bucky snicker.

‘Here’s an idea,’ Clint said, looking far too pleased with himself.  ‘I think we should make a resolution on Steve’s behalf.’

Natasha nodded.  ‘I like it.  I resolve that Steve talks to Darcy outside the safety of a rescue or a Doctor Who marathon.’

‘You can’t make resolutions for other people!’ Steve protested.

Everyone continued to ignore him.

‘And I resolve that he do it by or at Stark’s New Year’s Eve party,’ Bucky added.

Tony pointed finger guns at him.  ‘Romantic.  I approve.  Well, Cap, you have your mission.  Talk to Darcy at my party or take up permanent residence on Santa’s naughty list.’

‘That’s _not_ how this works,’ Steve muttered, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one.  And anyway, how hard could talking to Darcy actually be?

* * *

 

Very, as it turned out.  Between her work helping Jane track interstellar thingamabobs and his own inability to form coherent sentences in her presence, the remainder of the week went by without him fulfilling his resolution.

Which is why he was lurking next to the windows under one of the ridiculous staircases in the common room, watching Darcy dance with Bruce.  The wide skirt of her dress swirled around her legs as she twirled, laughing, under Bruce’s arm.  They seemed to be having a grand time, despite—or maybe even because of—Bruce’s utter lack of rhythm.  He was uncomfortably aware of Tony, Sam, Clint, Natasha, and Bucky watching him expectantly from various spots around the room.  It felt like he was a wounded raccoon in the middle of the desert and they were a kettle of vultures circling overhead, just waiting for him to expire so they could become a wake.

He was starting to regret the fact that Sam had introduced him to Wikipedia, even if it was source of plentiful—if dubious—information.

Clint was especially vulturish, hanging over the balcony above Steve as he was.  Steve could feel the archer’s eyes boring holes into the top of his skull, and he knew that if he didn’t act soon, the team would take matters into their own hands.  Even worse, they would never, _never_ let him hear the end of it.

The song ended and another, slower, one came on.  Darcy and Bruce moved to the edge of the dancefloor, and Steve knew that if he didn’t make a move now, not only would he never work up the nerve, but Tony and company would probably orchestrate some highly improbable and utterly mortifying matchmaking scheme.

Well, an even _more_ highly improbable, utterly mortifying matchmaking scheme.

Nat tapped a non-existent watch and pointed two fingers from her eyes to him.  He rolled his own eyes, then sucked in a deep breath and squared his shoulders before marching over to where Darcy was chatting with Bruce, Jane, and Thor.  She glanced over, catching his approach, and her face lit up.

‘Steve!  Hey!  I wasn’t sure if you were here tonight.’  She cocked her head.  ‘Dude, are you okay?  You look like Aragorn storming the Black Gate.’

He paused, blinking, before forcing himself to relax.  ‘No, I’m fine, everything’s fine.  Perfectly fine.  Better than fine, even.  How are you?’

‘Groovy, thanks.’

He nodded, smiling down at her while she grinned brightly up at him.  Bruce glanced between them before muttering something under his breath and melting into the crowd.

Jane snickered.  ‘Have fun, Darcy!’ she whispered loudly and pulled Thor onto the dancefloor, waving at Steve over her shoulder.

Thor look back, narrowing his eyes at Steve before switching his gaze to Darcy.  He beamed widely.  ‘Does this mean Steven is finally going to begin courting my lightning sister?’ Thor boomed, oblivious to Jane’s half-hearted attempts to shush him.

Darcy’s cheeks flushed bright pink, and Steve was sure his matched.  He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.  ‘Uh, would you like to dance?’

‘Yes, let’s,’ she said loudly, taking his arm and steering them towards the opposite side of the floor from Jane and Thor.  He approved of her strategy.

They dance in silence for a while, but every time they turned he caught the gaze of every single Avenger watching them with gimlet eyes.  He gulped.  ‘Great party, huh?’ he asked, then winced at the absolute inanity of the question.  Over Darcy’s shoulder, he caught Bucky shaking his head in despair.

Fortunately, Darcy seemed willing to follow his lead.  ‘Yeah, Tony might be a menace, but the man does know how to throw a killer soiree.’

There was an indignant _hey!_ followed by a muffled thump, and Steve spun her so that she wouldn’t see Tony, who was rubbing the back of his head while glaring at Sam.  ‘You’re pretty good at this,’ he told her.

She laughed.  ‘Thanks.  I used to swing dance in college.  Probably could’ve competed, but, well, saving the people that save the world doesn’t leave a lot of time for cutting a rug.  What about you?  Did you learn to dance back in the day?’

He snorted.  ‘I was pretty hopeless back in the day.  No, Nat taught me.  She insisted it was a useful skill.’

‘Never know when you might need to go undercover at a high-society shindig?’

‘Something like that,’ he said, and dipped her.

‘Nat, huh?’ she said as he brought her back up.  ‘Not Bucky?  I’d’ve thought this would be his kind of thing.’

Now it was his turn to laugh.  ‘Bucky is a _terrible_ teacher.  He tried once when we were teenagers.  Nearly broke my neck.  _Did_ manage to break one of Mrs. Barnes’ favourite lamps.  She tanned both of our hides for it.’  He shot a toothy grin at Bucky, who was glowering his best Winter Soldier glower at him.

‘Sounds like good times,’ Darcy said, drawing his attention back before he could give into the extremely mature urge to stick his tongue out at his best friend.

He smiled.  ‘They were.  But,’ he added, leaning a little closer, ‘I’m having a pretty good time right now.’

‘I’m glad to hear it,’ she said solemnly, eyes twinkling.  ‘In that case, I feel obligated to admit that I’m rather enjoying myself, too.’

‘No kidding,’ he said softly.  Was this flirting?  They were flirting, right?

She shook her head.  ‘Nope.’  Her cheeks were pink, whether from the dancing or flirting—they had to be flirting—he couldn’t tell.  He hoped it was the flirting.

They were barely moving anymore.  He stared into her bright blue eyes and decided he could happily stay where he was all night.

‘Steve?’

‘Yeah?’ he breathed.

‘The music’s stopped.’

‘That’s nice.’  It took another beat for him to register the fact that they were swaying on an almost-empty dancefloor.  ‘Oh.  Oh!  Sorry about that.’  Sheepishly, he let her go and held out an arm.

She grinned.  ‘No worries,’ she said, tucking her arm through his.  They found a secluded spot near where he had been lurking— _standing_ —earlier.  Darcy glanced up at him from the corner of her eye.  ‘So…’ she began slowly.  ‘Feels like I’ve seen even less of you than usual the last few days.  I mean, I know I’ve been busy helping Jane, but I was starting to think I’d need to get myself kidnapped just to talk to you.  After I’d made a resolution and everything!’

‘Ah.  Well.  About that.  I, uh, actually made—well, was given, really—a resolution, too.’

‘Really?  What was your resolution?’

‘To talk to you by tonight, “outside of a rescue mission or Doctor Who marathon.”’  Darcy had taught him about air quotes, and he quite liked them.  Especially since it threw people for a loop to see Captain America using air quotes.  Darcy thought it was hilarious.

She made a show of looking around the room.  ‘Cutting it awfully close there, soldier.’

He shrugged.  ‘I work best under pressure.’

She hummed.  ‘Well, in that case, I have a confession to make.  I made another resolution.’

‘What did you resolve?’  Was it his imagination, or was she leaning closer?

‘I need a little help with it.’  She was definitely leaning closer.

He followed suit.  ‘I’d be happy to help,’ he offered distractedly.

‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ she said, and kissed him.  Her hands rested on his chest before sliding up around his neck, while his wrapped around her waist.  He was dimly aware of whistles and catcalls coming from behind them, but he was much more interested in the way Darcy’s lips were moving with his own, making his brain short-circuit and fireworks explode behind his eyelids.

Finally, when the need for air was becoming an annoying necessity, even for him, she pulled back.  He couldn’t help chasing her mouth a little as he slowly opened his eyes.  Oh, so maybe those fireworks weren’t just an effect of the kiss after all.  Darcy was grinning up at him, the lights of New York and the fireworks over Times Square reflecting in her eyes.  ‘Happy New Year, Steve,’ she said softly.

He smiled, freeing one hand from her waist to cup her cheek.  ‘Happy New Year, Darcy,’ he said, and swooped in for another kiss.

Maybe New Year’s resolutions weren’t so bad, after all.


End file.
